Sunday:American History X; searching after old pictures; finally found the old picture: angry lady testing fate; funny on Pat Robertson; God vs. Nietzsche; emotional blackmail when God or Angels kill kittens; how to grow thicker skin in heated discussions; motivations for giving up smoking; Rio Carnival dresses; roleplaying games and experiences; the origin of ABBA.

Wednesday: Chat started, and got bizarre fast. Kil’s band, planetary puns, bad jokes, automobiles, Mab shows he’s working and we all silently wonder if any responses to our odd tangents ever get put into problem ticket resolutions. Admin smackdown. Cable company lies to Val about solar activity taking out his internet connection (SOHO confirms very low activity for the whole of February). Amazon down under; the science of salt and melting ice, and Ricky’s burned hand; Bill; Ricky sees Kent Hovind live, and more bad riddles. Lots and lots of lightbulb jokes.

“Shermer, who teaches critical thinking at Occidental College and is perhaps best known as the director of the Skeptics Society and publisher of Skeptic magazine, approaches religion not primarily as a delusion to be debunked but as a phenomenon to be explained. Shermer wonders why religious belief, traditional theistic belief in particular, remains widespread in contemporary America, confounding expectations that progress in science and technology should bring a corresponding decline in faith. One way to discover why people believe is to ask them, and Shermer has compiled original survey data to support his analysis.…”

The mission of the Skeptic Friends Network is to promote skepticism, critical thinking, science and logic as the best methods for evaluating all claims of fact, and we invite active participation by our members to create a skeptical community with a wide variety of viewpoints and expertise.